Bennington County Sustainable Forest Consortium
The Bennington County Sustainable Forest Consortium is a collaborative
between forest landowners, consulting foresters, loggers, the Bennington County
Conservation District (BCCD), and the Bennington County Forester's office. Our mission
is to promote dialogue and learning between forest landowners, resources professionals,
and the general public, and encourage landowners to think of their forests in a
sustainable manner.
Sustainable forestry protects the ongoing productivity of a forest's tree species. It preserves native plant and animal biodiversity, clean water, and clean air. In some areas, sustainable forestry preserves cultural as well as ecological benefits - things like recreational opportunities, pristine vistas, or a sense of wildness. It offers employment and investment opportunities to local residents. Sustainable forestry fairly values the efforts of those who labor in the woods, and the products they send to market. And most importantly, sustainable forestry is a long-term undertaking, where success is gauged over several decades, even several generations.
Photo: Brian Lary
A variety of threats presently affect our forests. Climate change, acid rain, invasive species, and deer and moose damage are major biological stressors in Vermont. An ailing housing market nationwide, a statewide scarcity of value-adding industries, a shrinking wood products labor force, and financial pressures to sell wood out of state are some of the economic stressors threatening our working forests. One of the largest threats to a resilient, diverse, and productive forest ecology and economy in Vermont, however - and one we can address through grassroots actions - may be a lack of understanding of our forest resource by landowners and the general public. Our workshop series addresses this need.
Among our workshops:
- Forest Ownership and Succession: Making plans for the future of your forest (May 2010) - Event Announcement.
- Vermont's Three Most Unwanted Forest Pests (April 2010) -
Event Announcement. - Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer surveyors workshop
(July 2009) - Event Announcement. - Woodland Invasive Plant Management (June 2009) - Event Announcement.
- Focus Species Forestry (March 2009) - Event Announcement.
- Selling Timber from Your Woodlands (February 2009) - Event Announcement.
- Hemlock wooly adelgid surveyors training (December 2008)
- Passing the Forest On: Conserving Woodlands and Wealth through Forest Estate Planning (November 2008)
- Exploitive or Responsible Forestry? (August 2008)
- Edible wild woodland plants (May 2008)
- Carbon Sequestration
- Tree Identification
- Vermont's Use Value Program
- Forest Access Roads and Water Quality
- And More!
For forestry assistance, contact:
- Bennington County Forester
- VT Dept. of Forests, Parks, & Rec.
- 478 Shaftsbury State Park Road
- Shaftsbury, Vermont 05262
- Tele: (802) 375-1217
- Fax: (802) 375-2408
- Email:
The following Conservation Currents articles regarding sustainable forestry appeared in the Bennington Banner.